Wednesday, July 8, 1998 Last modified at 12:50 a.m. on Wednesday, July 8, 1998

Portales police arrest two men for separate attacks on officers

By MEGAN DONNELL

Avalanche-Journal

Two New Mexico men spent their July Fourth holiday behind bars on charges stemming from separate attacks on Portales police officers.

Frank Martinez, 18, of Tucumcari, N.M., is accused of hitting Officer Mike Running in the head with a piece of lumber on Friday. Eric P. Duran, 20, of Portales, is charged with dragging Officer Phil White behind White's patrol car on June 25.

Martinez was arrested just five or six blocks from Running's home, where the officer was hit during a dispute with another man, said police Capt. Lonnie Berry. Running received 12 stitches to his left ear.

Running and his girlfriend were at his home on Fifth Street between A and Main streets when the officer heard some commotion and whistling outside, Berry said.

As his girlfriend called police, Running went out and was approached by a man carrying a wooden stick "like it was a gun," Berry added.

Running identified himself as a police officer and the two talked until it appeared the confrontation had settled, Berry said. Then the man struck the officer in the head, dropped the lumber and ran.

"He turned his attention away for just a second, and as soon as he did, he was hit in the head," Berry said of Running.